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Ukranian-born artist focusing on sculpture

Katya Strakhova graduated from Washburn in 2009

Artist Katya Strakhova uses an array of power tools, including a drill press, to create her sculptures. Her latest work, "The Suspender," will be on display at Riverfront Station, 802 N. Kansas Ave. in the NOTO Arts District, during the First Friday Artwalk.

Artist Katya Strakhova uses an array of power tools, including a drill press, to create her sculptures. Her latest work, "The Suspender," will be on display at Riverfront Station, 802 N. Kansas Ave. in the NOTO Arts District, during the First Friday Artwalk.

"The Suspender," a sculpture by artist Katya Strakhova, will be on display at Riverfront Station, 802 N. Kansas Ave. in the NOTO Arts District, during the First Friday Artwalk.

Creating art has been more of a struggle than Katya Strakhova expected it to be when she graduated from Washburn University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.

“I have been trying to make art since I graduated, but it’s a little bit harder because there are no deadlines and not as much help,” she said.

Nevertheless, Strakhova has been showing her artwork locally, and her latest sculpture, “The Suspender,” will be on display beginning at 6 p.m. Friday at Riverfront Station, 802 N. Kansas Ave., during the First Friday Artwalk.

“A lot of my pieces kind of make you wonder how they are being held up, and that is the point of the piece,” Stra-khova said. “You look at it and you don’t see the fishing wire at first, so you come closer to see it’s suspended, and that’s why it is called ‘The Suspender,’ because it’s suspended within another circle.”

Strakhova, who has been interested in art since she was a youngster growing up in Odessa, Ukraine, moved to Kansas in 2000 at the age of 14.

“I knew I wanted to be an art major, and at first I thought I was going to do an emphasis in photography,” she said. “Then I took a sculpture class, and since then I’ve been working with wood and power tools. I really enjoy that working with my hands.

“A lot of my sculptures deal with dichotomy. For example, ‘The Suspender’ is heavy versus light — the base is concrete and the two circles are very light. The concrete base is very heavy and very obvious, and the fishing wire is see-through and unnoticeable.”

Strakhova currently works at AlBo Glass, a glass blowing studio at 433 S.W. Woodlawn, and hopes to add glasswork into her sculptures in the future. Although she currently isn’t working on new projects, she continues to learn new techniques in hopes of expanding her art-making methods.

“The goal is to continue making art, but I don’t have any specific projects in mind right now,” Strakhova said. “I’m assuming it will progress to something like me using more steel in my art and trying to get better at welding and things like that.”

Her artwork also has been featured at other galleries around Topeka, including Bottega, Warehouse 414 and Sabatini gallery.